Learn Arabic › B2 › زَيَّى
زَيَّى
to dress (someone) up as /zajˈjaː/
verbB2#3364 most common
Also: to costume, to disguise as, to fit out in a uniform
Example sentences
زَيَّتِ الأُمُّ ابْنَتَهَا بِزِيِّ الأَمِيرَةِ.
The mother dressed her daughter up as a princess.
زَيَّى المُخْرِجُ المُمَثِّلَ بِزِيِّ جُنْدِيٍّ قَدِيمٍ.
The director costumed the actor in an old soldier's uniform.
هَلْ تَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ تُزَيِّيَنِي بِزِيِّ مُهَرِّجٍ لِحَفْلَةِ الأَطْفَالِ؟
Can you dress me up as a clown for the children's party?
زَيَّتِ الشَّرِكَةُ مُوَظَّفِيهَا بِزِيٍّ مُوَحَّدٍ لِتَمْثِيلِ العَلَامَةِ التِّجَارِيَّةِ فِي المَعْرِضِ.
The company dressed its employees up in matching outfits to represent the brand at the fair.
فِي المَسْرَحِيَّةِ، زُيِّيَ المُمَثِّلُونَ بِأَزْيَاءٍ تَارِيخِيَّةٍ تَعُودُ إِلَى القَرْنِ التَّاسِعِ عَشَرَ.
In the play, the actors were costumed in historical outfits dating back to the nineteenth century.
أَصَرَّ المُخْرِجُ عَلَى أَنْ يُزَيَّى كُلُّ مُمَثِّلٍ بِمَا يَعْكِسُ طَبَقَتَهُ الِاجْتِمَاعِيَّةَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَظْهَرَ أَمَامَ الكَامِيرَا.
The director insisted that every actor be costumed in a way that reflected his social class before appearing in front of the camera.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أُزَيِّي | زَيَّيْتُ | سَأُزَيِّي |
| 2sg | تُزَيِّي | زَيَّيْتَ | سَتُزَيِّي |
| 3sg | يُزَيِّي | زَيَّى | سَيُزَيِّي |
| 1pl | نُزَيِّي | زَيَّيْنَا | سَنُزَيِّي |
| 2pl | تُزَيُّونَ | زَيَّيْتُمْ | سَتُزَيُّونَ |
| 3pl | يُزَيُّونَ | زَيَّوْا | سَيُزَيُّونَ |
Word family
زِيّattire, costume, uniform, guise
تَزَيَّىto disguise oneself, dress up as
تَزْيِيَةcostuming, the act of dressing someone up
أَزْيَاءfashions, styles (plural of zayy)
Etymology
زَيَّى is a causative verb built on the pattern faʿʿala from the old Arabic noun زِيّ (zayy), meaning attire, guise, or manner of dress. Doubling the middle radical turns the noun into a transitive verb: to fit someone out in that guise. The same root gives Modern Standard Arabic أَزْيَاء (azyāʾ), the everyday word for fashions, seen on fashion house signs. This is a native Semitic root with no established Indo-European link.
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